The present invention generally relates to irrigation control and, more specifically, to methods and systems for providing offset to computed evapotranspiration (ET) values in a remote manner.
Typically, irrigation control information is manually input by an user to an irrigation system in order to allow the irrigation system to provide an appropriate amount of irrigation. Such irrigation control information is generally based on measurements obtained by the user from other equipment and/or data collected by a weather station. The irrigation system, in turn, provides an appropriate amount of irrigation based on the input information.
The foregoing irrigation arrangement has a number of shortcomings. For example, the user has to first obtain the requisite irrigation control information and then manually input such information into the irrigation system. Furthermore, such information does not necessarily accurately reflect the local weather conditions that are applicable to the areas covered by the irrigation system. This is because the irrigation control information may be generated based on data collected by a distant or non-local weather station that is located some distance away from the areas covered by the irrigation system. The weather station may be located in an area where the weather conditions vary quite significantly from those of the areas covered by the irrigation system. As a result, the irrigation control information (which is based on data collected from the distant weather station) may cause the irrigation system to provide irrigation that is substantially different from what is required for the areas covered by the irrigation system.
Furthermore, due to inaccuracies in measuring weather conditions, irrigation control information often needs to be updated. For example, in some conventional irrigation systems, a new ET value is calculated solely based on the latest weather conditions. The new ET value, however, does not take into account irrigation already performed based on any past erroneous ET value. As a result, the resulting irrigation based on the new ET value does not initially accurately reflect the true weather conditions. It is only after a certain adjustment period that the resulting irrigation based on the new ET value conforms to the true weather conditions.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide a system that is capable of providing accurate irrigation in a more efficient manner.